Industry WIKI

A&W Restaurants, Inc. is an American fast food restaurant chain distinguished by its "Burger Family" combos, draft root beer and root beer floats. A&W's origins date back to 1919 when Roy W. Allen set up a roadside drink stand offering root beer at a parade honoring returning World War I veterans in Lodi, California. Allen's employee, Frank Wright, partnered with him in 1922 and they fo

Benihana (Japanese: 紅花; "Safflower") is a chain of Japanese restaurants. Originally founded by Yunosuke Aoki as a cafe in Tokyo in 1945, Benihana spread to the United States in 1964 when his son Hiroaki "Rocky" Aoki opened its first restaurant in New York City.

Bob Evans Restaurants is an American chain of family style restaurants based in New Albany, Ohio, and owned by Golden Gate Capital until 2026 when 4×4 Capital bought it. After its founding in 1948 by Bob Evans (1918–2007), the restaurant chain evolved into a company with the corporate brand name "Bob Evans Farms, Inc." (BEF), and eventually established a separate food division to handle

Boston Market Corporation, known as Boston Chicken until 1995, is an American fast casual restaurant chain headquartered in Newtown Township, Pennsylvania. Since 2020, it has been owned by Engage Brands, LLC, a company of Rohan Group. From 1985 to 1995, Boston Market was known as Boston Chicken, which rapidly expanded to over a thousand locations. By the late 1990s, the chain filed for b

California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. (CPK) is an American casual dining restaurant chain that specializes in California-style pizza. The restaurant was started in 1985 by attorneys Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax in Beverly Hills, California, United States. California Pizza Kitchen introduced and popularized BBQ Chicken Pizza.

Church's Texas Chicken is an American fast food restaurant chain that specializes in Southern fried chicken and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The chain was founded as Church's Fried Chicken To-Go by George W. Church Sr. in April 1952, in San Antonio, Texas, across the street from The Alamo. Church's Texas Chicken trades as Texas Chicken or Church's Chicken in many countries.

Denny's (also known as Denny's Diner on some locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,400 restaurants in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and several other international locations.

Fazoli's System Management, LLC., or Fazoli's is an American quick-service restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. Founded in 1988 in Lexington, Kentucky, the company owns and operates 137 restaurants across 24 states in the United States, with additional locations in Canada, and Puerto Rico. Its menu includes pasta dishes, sandwiches, pizza, salads, desserts, and brea

Fogo de Chão, Inc. (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈfoɡu dʒi ˈʃɐ̃w]; Portuguese for 'Ground Fire') is a Brazilian chain of rodízio-style steakhouses (churrascarias) founded in 1979 by brothers Arri and Jair Coser, along with Jorge and Aleixo Ongaratto. The restaurant chain specializes in Southern Brazilian cuisine, primarily serving churrasco barbecued meats and traditional side dishes. First es

Friendly's is a restaurant chain on the East Coast of the United States. The first location, selling ice cream cones, opened in 1935 in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was founded by brothers S. Prestley Blake and Curtis Blake. It has 10,000 employees. George Michel is the CEO. It offers diner-style cuisine and highlights its 22 ice cream flavors. Many locations offer an ice-cream onl

Grandy's Country Cookin' (shortened to Grandy's) is a homestyle cooking and comfort food restaurant chain based in Nashville, Tennessee.

Hooters is the registered trademark used by an international restaurant chain Hooters, Inc., based in Clearwater, Florida and its associated franchise group Hoot Owl Restaurants LLC. The Hooters name is a double entendre referring to both an American slang term for women's breasts and the logo (a bird known for its "hooting" calls: the owl).

Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon is an American casual dining restaurant chain with a single independently owned and operated franchise still in business in 2021 on the island of Guam. The chain served steak, seafood, salad, and similar food items. Lone Star opened its first restaurant in 1989 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In March 1992, Lone Star became a public company with eight rest

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants Inc. is an American seafood restaurant chain, formerly based in Portland, Oregon. As of December 2024, the company operates 15 locations and one catering service in the United States and one Canadian location that operates under the Boathouse name. A sale to the parent company, Landry's, Inc., was completed in January 2012. Landry's corporate hea

Darden Concepts, Inc., doing business as Olive Garden, is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. It is a unit of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which is headquartered in Orange County, Florida. As of 2022, Olive Garden restaurants accounted for $4.5 billion of the $9.63 billion revenue of Darden.

P. F. Chang's China Bistro is an American casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1993 by Paul Fleming and Philip Chiang that serves Asian fusion cuisine. Centerbridge Partners owned and operated Chang’s until acquired by the private equity firm TriArtisan Capital Advisors on March 2, 2019. P. F. Chang's is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

PizzaExpress (Restaurants) Limited, trading as PizzaExpress (also called Pizza Marzano or Milano), is a British multinational pizza restaurant chain based in Uxbridge, England. It also ran the brand Za between 2019 and 2023.

Red Lobster Hospitality LLC is an American casual dining restaurant chain headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company has operations across most of the United States (including Puerto Rico), and Canada, as well as in Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, and Thailand. Golden Gate Capital was Red Lobster's parent company after it was acquired from Darden Restaurants on July 28, 2014. Seafood supplie

Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard (originally and now informally known as Rita's Water Ice) is a privately owned and operated American quick service restaurant chain originating in the Philadelphia metropolitan area that expanded into 30 states, mostly in the Mid-Atlantic region. The chain is known for its Italian ice, or water ice, and frozen custard but also offers multiple other typ

Roti (stylized as rōti) and formerly known as Roti Restaurants, Inc., Rōti Modern Mediterranean and Rōti Mediterranean Grill, is an American fast casual restaurant serving Mediterranean cuisine. The firm was founded in 2007, and at its peak prior to the COVID-19 pandemic it had 42 locations in Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, Houston, New York City, and Washington, D.C. It filed for bankrup

Shoney's is an American restaurant chain headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. As of October 2026, the company operates 45 locations in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Barbeque Integrated Inc., doing business as Smokey Bones Bar and Fire Grill (or simply Smokey Bones) was an American casual dining restaurant chain owned by FAT Brands. Its franchise headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California. In January 2026, Smokey Bones had 31 restaurants in 15 Eastern states. Under its previous owner, Smokey Bones had as many as 128 restaurants across most of the

Darden Concepts, Inc. doing business as The Capital Grille, is an American restaurant chain of upscale steakhouses owned by Darden Restaurants. The brand has locations in twenty-five states, the District of Columbia, and Mexico City. There are 74 locations, including one location in Costa Rica.

VitaNova Brands, based in San Antonio, Texas, was an operator of a number of American national buffet chain restaurants including subsidiary company Furr's. The company owned and operated Old Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet, and Ryan's Buffet, along with Curry House.